1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to exercise apparatuses and, more particularly, to an exercise apparatus with both a mat rotating means operated by an electric motor and a foot support means to allow a user reclining on a mat to hang his/her body upside down from the foot support means or to do exercises, such as sit-ups, without help from another person.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention has been studied and invented, based on U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,560 (herein below, referred to simply as “No. '560”) that was filed by the inventor of the present invention, entitled “exercise device”.
The construction of the exercise device of No. '560 is shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings.
The exercise device of No. '560 includes a base frame 20 with both a first leg 21 and a second leg 22 serving as a support base to support the exercise device on a support surface as shown in FIG. 1. The exercise device further includes: a mat 1 on which a user lies reclined; a mat frame 2 rotatably mounted to an upper end of the base frame 20, with the mat 1 supported by the mat frame 2; a mat rotating means 4 having a motor to rotate the mat frame 2; and a bearing unit 7 rotatably coupled to the mat frame 2. Furthermore, a length-adjustable extension member 8 is mounted to a longitudinal end of the mat frame 2, with a foot support means 10 mounted to a free end of the extension member 8 to support the feet and ankles of the user reclining on the mat 1.
The foot support means 10 includes: a pair of footholds 11 mounted to the free end of the extension member 8 while extending laterally horizontally in opposite directions to support the weight of the user reclining on the mat 1; and a pair of calf support bars 12 mounted to the extension member 8 at a position near the free end of the member 8 while extending laterally and horizontally in opposite directions to support the calves of the user's legs. The foot support means 10 further includes: a pair of ankle holders 13 which is rotatably coupled to the free end of the extension member 8 by means of a swinging bar 14; and an ankle holder rotating means 15 which rotates the ankle holders 13 towards the calf support bars 12 so as to support the ankles of the user. The ankle holder rotating means 15 is installed in the footholds 11.
The mat rotating means 4 and the ankle holder rotating means 15 are provided with a first reversible motor 5 and a second reversible motor (not shown), respectively. A reduction gear assembly 6 is provided in the mat rotating means 4 to reduce the output speed of the first reversible motor 5. The ankle holder rotating means 15 has a reduction gear assembly (not shown) in the same manner as that described for the gear assembly 6 of the mat rotating means 4. Thus, the rotating forces of the first and second motors are transmitted to a rotating member 3 of the mat frame 2 and the rotating bar 14 of the ankle holder 13, respectively, through the reduction gear assemblies, and thus, both the mat frame 2 and the ankle holders 13 rotate.
In the meantime, two switches S1 and S2 are provided on the upper portion of the outer surface of a casing that covers the mat rotating means 4. Of the two switches, the first switch S1 controls operation of the first motor 5 provided in the mat rotating means 4, and thereby controls the inclination angle of the mat 1. Furthermore, the second switch S2 controls operation of the second motor (not shown) provided in the ankle holder rotating means 15, and thereby controls the rotating angle of the ankle holders 13. Thus, when using the above-mentioned exercise device, the user lying reclined on the mat 1 easily controls the inclination angle of the mat 1 by manipulating the switches. Furthermore, the user stops the motor of the mat rotating means 4 when the mat 1 is placed at a desired inclination angle. After the mat 1 is stopped at the inclination angle, the user does desired exercises, such as sit-ups, on the mat 1. In the drawing, the reference numeral 9 denotes a handgrip that extends from the rotating member 3 of the mat frame 2.
The above-mentioned exercise device is advantageous in that a user conveniently controls operation of the device. However, the exercise device is problematic in that the base frame 20 including the first and second legs 21 and 22 has a fixed structure which does not allow the legs 21 and 22 to be closed or disassembled, although the legs 21 and 22 firmly fixed to each other can stably support the device on a support surface. Thus, the exercise device must occupy a substantial predetermined space even when the device is not in use, thus reducing space efficiency.
Furthermore, to move the exercise device, two or more persons must handle the heavy device at the same time.
Another disadvantage of the above-mentioned exercise device is that the device does not have any means for manually rotating the mat frame when interruption of electric power occurs while the device is in use. Thus, if the power gives out while the user's body is hanging upside down from the foot support means, the mat frame cannot return to its horizontal position, sometimes causing safety hazards.